Cameras have been used for many years to provide increased security in banks, retail stores, hotels, multiple unit residential buildings and other commercial and/or residential facilities. The use of strategically placed cameras has had a deterrent effect upon criminals, because the pictures taken by the cameras are known to help law enforcement authorities identify suspects wanted for further questioning in connection with events recorded in pictures taken by the respective cameras. In order to help law enforcement authorities identify suspects, however, the pictures taken by the respective camera must be accessible to the authorities following the events recorded in the pictures. Therefore, the camera must be located in either a remote or a secure location, one which is inaccessible to suspects intent upon destroying the film and/or the camera from which the pictures are to be obtained.
The personal use of a portable camera to deter would be criminals from committing criminal acts, particularly those which may be injurious to the person of the individual using the camera, has been believed to be ineffective because the camera is not located in a remote or a secure location so as to be inaccessible to the criminal after it is used and, therefore, likely to be subsequently accessible to the appropriate authorities.
It will be appreciated that prior art cameras leave this and other problems unsolved. The present invention includes a camera which can be used by an individual to deter criminals intent on harming them. In this way, the camera can be used to increase the personal security of an individual using such a camera. Other problems are also solved by the present invention.